When the Buffalo Bills opted to fire Rex Ryan and hire former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott as the new head coach, it was clear that significant change was on the horizon. Ryan implemented a hybrid 3-4 defensive scheme during his two-year tenure with Buffalo while McDermott brings an aggressive, zone-based 4-3 defense rooted from his former mentor with the Philadelphia Eagles, Jim Johnson.

The transition to the 4-3 defense means that the Bills will be looking to acquire different types of players that are better suited for the responsibilities asked in McDermott’s scheme than what they were used to under former coach Ryan.

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Buffalo already began adding players that fit this new scheme in free agency with the signings of safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, cornerback Leonard Johnson and defensive end Ryan Davis.

Coach McDermott joined the Eagles in 1999 as a scouting assistant as worked his way up through the coaching ranks – developing some of the best defensive players in the league over the last 15-plus seasons. During that time, he obviously saw what type of players thrived, and which players failed – which became evident when studying the measurements players drafted during his tenure at the NFL Scouting Combine.

McDermott’s defenders all fit specific athletic profiles and have varying responsibilities within the defense. With the 2017 NFL draft around the corner, we studied the attributes of players from each position group on defense and identified which draft prospects were best-suited for the Buffalo Bills’ new defense.

Defensive Tackle

Within Jim Johnson and Sean McDermott’s defensive line is your traditional one-technique nose tackle and the three-technique under tackle. The defense typically aligns in ‘Under’ or ‘Over’ fronts, with the one-technique aligned on the strong-side ‘A’ gap and the three-technique aligned in the weakside ‘B’ gap.

Both players need to be equally effective at stuffing the run and penetrating the backfield. The three-technique is the engine to this defensive front, as they’re responsible for one gap and typically excel at rushing the passer. Kawann Short most recently held this role in McDermott’s defense in Carolina. Here are the measurements of the defensive tackles that played under McDermott with the Panthers.

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The average defensive tackle was 6-foot-3, 312-pounds with 33 7/8-inch arms. They averaged a 5.18 40-yard dash, a 1.83 10-yard split and roughly 29 bench press reps of 225-pounds while posting an average 7.73-second three cone with a 28.5-inch vertical leap and a 103-inch broad jump.

After scouring through the measurements by defensive tackle prospects at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine, we found that these six players matched the prototypical McDermott interior defensive lineman most.

Alabama’s Dalvin Tomlinson is the most similar prospect in relation to the average measurements of Carolina’s defensive tackles. Tomlinson is an intriguing prospect, as he played in 48 games for the Crimson Tide, serving as a primary reserve until earning a starting role in 2016. In his career, Tomlinson totaled 118 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, 10 pass breakups and one forced fumble.

Used as a two-gapping nose tackle, Tomlinson’s skills as a pass rusher were often masked, as he was responsible for taking on double teams and controlling the line of scrimmage – a role in which he excelled. He projects well to the one-technique defensive tackle position, but he proved that he could be a disruptive force as well, showing the ability to stack and shed blocks before bursting into the backfield. Per PFF, Tomlinson generated 34 quarterback pressures in 2016, a testament to his well-rounded skill set.